SLU transforms West Pine into citizenship center

When Martin Luther King Jr. visited Saint Louis University in 1964, students and faculty filled the Bauman-Eberhardt Center, then the largest building on campus.

But the former West Pine gym, a 70,000-square-foot structure built in 1925, outlived its functionality in recent years. Largely vacant since the women’s basketball program and department of athletics moved to Chaifetz Arena in 2008, the Bauman-Eberhardt building is now dwarfed by much-larger spaces, including the 160,000-square-foot Busch Student Center and the Chaifetz complex, which has 269,300 square feet.

Last year, SLU spent $8.8 million, with a $1 million contribution from the AT&T Foundation, to recast the space as its new Center for Global Citizenship. Fox Architects and McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. were partners on the 11-month project, which was completed in May. “The building actually has a lot of historical and cultural significance to it,” said David Florek, SLU’s manager of design and construction.

Early on, SLU officials decided to keep the gym’s “bowl” that was the basketball court, said Florek. Another central goal of the project was sustainability, and to that end, the original wood floors were sanded and refinished. A “clear story,” or large glass skylight, that had been boarded up since the 1970s was uncovered, giving the building 360 degrees of natural light and reducing the building’s electricity needs.

On the infrastructure side, workers updated the building’s plumbing and electrical, and added air conditioning and sprinklers for the first time. The architects found creative solutions for routing and placing new mechanical systems that wouldn’t be obstructive — including a new mechanical space in an old racquetball court.

The new space includes a student commons area (with an international-themed café), and a high-tech auditorium with seating for 1,000, and a video screen comprised of 25 separate 40-inch LCD screens. A bridge structure on the former basketball court bisects the space. The building also houses SLU’s Office of International Services and other cross-cultural programs. Ryan Freeman, McCarthy’s director of business development, said construction challenges included building the bridge structure without destroying the floor.